PAX Rising 2025: A Showcase of Bold, Brilliant, and Bizarre Creativity

The PAX Rising section is always bustling with game lovers (yes that is me doing an interview)

PAX Australia has long been the beating heart of local indie talent, and 2025’s PAX Rising lineup is no exception. This year’s showcase features a wildly eclectic mix of digital, tabletop, and hybrid experiences — from rhythm-fuelled adventures and VR ghost hunts to strategic bird battles and Australian-flavoured chaos.

REAPRIEVE (10PM Club) puts you in the role of a grim reaper whose desk job is deleting the stories of souls.

Rawring Candies (50 Seconds Studio) is a frantic co-op party game where you and your friends juggle candy-making chaos, hungry dragons, and mischievous gremlins.

Birds (A Game Called Birds) is a cheeky board game that celebrates Australian birdlife in a race of strategy, sabotage, and luck.

Schrodinger's Cat Burglar (Abandoned Sheep) blends feline stealth and quantum physics in a puzzle-heist adventure.

ANGEL (ANTD Interactive) is a rhythm-infused racer exploring digital climate change and what it means to stay connected.

Ghost Cam (Arch Rebels) is a haunting VR and PC ghost photography game where capturing spirits isn’t nearly as scary as being captured yourself.

End of Ember (Bad Plan Studios) is a cute yet gory Isaac-like where your birthday takes a wrong turn into Hell.

Lone Pine (Bang Bang Bang Interactive) is a 2D adventure where you photograph cryptids in a mysterious national park.

Cultured Swines (Bimini Board Games) is a 1960s poolside mixer where players schmooze, sabotage, and climb the social ladder.

Bonza Crossword Puzzles (Bonza Puzzles) brings the hit mobile game to the tabletop, blending crossword wordplay with jigsaw mechanics.

L8R SK8R (Busalonium) is a retro-inspired 3D speed platformer where you beat levels as fast as possible and trade in time itself.

The INDIGO Initiative (Caustic Reality) is a first-person puzzle adventure where you wield a device that manipulates fire, water, and electricity.

Chessplus: Combine & Conquer (Chessplus) twists the classic game with hybrid pieces, roguelike deckbuilding, and online multiplayer.

Rob & Roll (Devil Juice Studios) is a dice-goblin roguelike full of crunchy, turn-based strategy.

Survival of the Fattest (Dirty Rascal Games) has cute critters foraging food to cook recipes and score victory points.

Fantasy Map Maker (Doopy Games) lets players roll dice, draw features, and build their own fantasy maps together.

Momento (Fat Alien Cat & Nomo Studio) is a cozy decorator with a twist — the objects you choose shape the course of a lifetime.

BraveCart (Hojo Studio) tells the tale of an abandoned shopping trolley who sparks a revolution against supermarket overlords.

Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic (i will bite raw coffee beans) is a dark, occult RPG with monster-catching, alchemy, and ritual combat.

Nonolith (Justcamh) is a mysterious exploration game where you rearrange worlds and master hidden powers.

Cow Chess (lablab) is a real-time artillery party game combining wall-sticking cows, destructible terrain, and chaotic upgrades.

Apothecary of City X (Lemon Jolly Games) is a melancholy management sim where you forage in a mech to keep a struggling apothecary alive.

NUKO! (Loaded Deck Games) is a fast-paced survival game where your only chance in the apocalypse is to play.

Spellsided (Mass Transfer Interactive) is a dice-builder RPG where every step casts spells and creates your own puzzle path.

MEAN! (Mean Games) is a party card game blending deck-building and spiteful hand-shedding mechanics.

THE HELL: City Builder of the Dead (METROPOLICE SDN BHD) puts you in charge of transforming the chaos of Hell into a functioning city.

Zodiac Mountain (Mystic Road) is a roguelike deckbuilder where a panda seeks to join the Chinese Zodiac.

Nationary: Europe English Edition (Nationary Group) is a trivia-meets-strategy board game balancing skill and luck.

Key Fairy (Owl Machine) is a folkloric, hand-drawn bullet hell where you dance and grapple your way through forgotten gods.

Fox and Shadow (Paper Cactus Games) is a dual deckbuilding roguelike where you scavenge drones and survive in a decaying bunker.

MMMMMM: Multi-Merge Mix & Match Minigame Mayhem (PARTYBOMB STUDIO) is a frantic multiplayer party game packed with overlapping microgames.

Jupiter Junkworks (Pixel Drake) delivers arcade puzzle action in a sci-fi junkyard where an unlikely crew must survive.

Armless Samurai (Playmakers Development Team) is a fast-paced parkour gauntlet where you fight only with your legs.

Pascal's Requiem (Playmakers Development Team) tells the story of mana-fuelled robotics and the hidden cost of progress.

Pro Jank Footy (Powerbomb Games) reimagines AFL as a surreal sports party roguelite featuring Danger 5 creators and Aunty Donna’s Broden Kelly.

Hot Pot (Quokka Games) brings the joy of cooking together in a competitive tabletop take on the classic dish.

Lighthaze World (Radiobush) follows Nym and their dog Chewy through a daunting mall in search of food.

Castle Cab (Royal Reign Studios) casts you as a sentient horse delivering goods in a whimsical medieval revolution.

Nullstar: Solus (Smash Attack Studios) is a precision platformer across 80 levels set in the ruins of a dying world.

Aussie Bogan Hero (Snag Swag Studios) is a mullet-wearing metroidvania where Davo battles creatures and corporations to save his pub.

Rita (SporkTank) is a cozy, generational puzzle adventure told through the legacy of a little chicklet.

Grove Keeper (Steep Summit Studios) has you protect an enchanted grove as a forest deity against human threats.

Tingus Goose (SweatyChair) is a bizarre idle game where you grow and mutate a long-necked goose.

Bits & Bops (Tempo Lab Games) is a rhythm mini-game collection full of catchy music and hand-drawn charm.

Project Shatterpoint (Tetra Studios) is a multiplayer FPS mixing mechs, parkour, and fully destructible arenas.

My Arms Are Longer Now (Toot Games) is a slapstick stealth heist where a long-armed thief bends and retracts through levels.

War of Salvation (Total Game Development) is a real-time strategy game about survival in a climate-transformed future.

Enfant (Zebrar) is a third-person adventure where you play as an enlightened elephant searching for its lost herd.

Zero Point Survivor (Zero Point Games) is a chaotic space shooter with 21 weapons, upgrades, and endless destruction.

Odd Jobs: On The Lot (One Up Plus) is a four-player co-op sim about completing quirky tasks in an Aussie carpark.

Tank Society (Bradley Lin) is a 2.5D ricochet tank shooter about battling through a dystopian world.

From occult RPGs and melancholy apothecaries to long-necked geese and revolutionary shopping trolleys, PAX Rising 2025 proves that Australia’s indie scene thrives on experimentation, heart, and humour.

No matter your taste — strategy, puzzles, chaos, or pure weirdness — there’s something unforgettable waiting for you on the show floor this October.